Hosting can be a lot of work, but there are some things you can do to make it less of a hassle
I love getting invited to dinner. I love when I walk into a room and someone has already dressed the table and the house smells of food.
Setting a table is like making a beautiful bed. You can add more pieces to make it look more full and add décor to make it more warm feeling. I like mixing old and new pieces on the table so there are some interesting things to look and talk about.
I recently went to a dinner where the flowers were divided into shot glasses and spread throughout the table. I much preferred that way of displaying flowers, since it doesn't get in the way when it is in the middle of the table. Bouquets are lovely, but sometimes you can't see the person in front of you.
Here are some helpful tips that I used to make my last hosting opportunity a big success
Prepping the food in the morning is so that you don't have to stress about the timeliness of the food being ready later in the day
Wear an apron. This way your clothes will be clean
Set the table and have it ready that way when the guests arrive you have time to hang out with them
Offer your guests a drink when they walk in the door. Even if it's water, offer them something so they feel welcome
Have something to nibble on before dinner, but not something too big or else your guests won't have room to eat their dinner
Choose the wine or beverage you are going to serve with dinner before so you have a game plan to work with. The white or sparkling has to be chilled before being served, so have that in mind
CLEAN AS YOU GO. This is super important. Washing a hug sink of dishes after dinner can be tiring and can take you away from your guests, so try and clean at you go. When I have people over I make most things ahead of time and have about 2 pans on the stove, because if I have more than that I will get anxiety after dinner is finished about the dishes
Buy yourself some flowers and put it on the table to dress it up. There's nothing better than have plants or flowers around to cheer your day up
Take time to enjoy everything that you made and make good conversation with people at the table. Be present and enjoy yourself. Why are you have people over to begin with if you can't enjoy yourself
Summer is coming and this is a great opportunity to have people over. Try to take the anxiety of hosting out of your head and focus on the positive part of having people over.
I hope some of these tips work for you the next time you are planning on having people over. Let me know some of your favourite tips when hosting people at your home!